CSotD: All is Well

The President emerged from his living quarters yesterday, as soon as Fox & Friends was over, to address the nation, and the “emerging from the light” angle was a different setting than the usual “walk down the long hallway” venue, which late night comedians quickly noted, just as they noted that he opened by saying Iran would never have a nuclear weapon as long as the guy who tore up the treaty keeping them from developing a nuclear weapon was in the White House.

I’m glad the mullahs stepped back and glad the President let them and can’t wait to see what cartoonists make of it all.

And I’m sorry so few of the cartoons posted this morning addressed it. Editorial cartoonists need to keep pace, if not with the instant meme-launchers on social media, at least with those afore-mentioned late night wags who had full routines ready for a six o’clock taping.

Counterpoint did come out with a January 7 edition, however — post-bombing, but in mailboxes before the press conference announcing the lack of war.

 

(Nate Beeler)

 

(Nick Anderson)

The mullahs’ restraint left the anti-Iran cartoonists at a disadvantage relative to the anti-war cartoonists, and, while Anderson’s point of bringing us to the brink holds up despite the apparent relaxation of tensions, Beeler’s accusation that the Democrats put national security aside in favor of partisan pursuits seems to fall a bit more flat.

On the other hand, we need to see how the commentary goes on the topic of the Congressional briefings, which predictably disappointed Democrats but drew completely unexpected and strong criticism from the heretofore solid Republicans.

 

Kal Kallaugher‘s commentary is likely to stand, since the President did nothing during his speech to mitigate the sense that his ego exceeds his political acumen.

 

(Walt Handelsman)

(Patrick Chappatte)

And, leaving Counterpoint, we find this pre-strike newspaper commentary expanded upon by this post-strike commentary.

Even without the intervening events, I could prefer Chappatte’s view because it not only fits with every insider hint that has emerged from the White House, but seemed evident as Dear Leader stumbled through the prepared remarks that, while more coherent than his off-the-cuff comments might have been, still contained not only his usual bravado but repeated his tendency to blame everything that goes wrong on his watch on Obama, who has, after all, been out of office for three years.

Trump even repeated the oft-quashed lie about Iran being “given” pallets of cash. That’s not a “point of view” but simply a determined propaganda spin.

In any case, the mullah’s “reprisal” missed its targets, and most observers suggest it was on purpose: That they gave Iraq (and thereby the Americans) sufficient notice to get out of the way and then purposely set their targets enough off to avoid a disaster but enough on to pacify their own mob.

Which their hawks and our hawks can spin however they want, but it does suggest this: If they, in fact, missed, not because they intended to send warning shots but because they are incompetent, why are we so worried about what they might do next?

 

Which continuing concern elicits this odd “What a minute …” moment, as Mike Thompson suggests, and the twist in directions is perfectly consistent with that lack of attention span Chappatte noted in his cartoon. Dear Leader also called upon our allies to hammer out an agreement that sounded an awful lot like the one he tore up.

We may need to wait for a new international summit or the next Trump pep rally to find out if he has truly kept focus on the idea of retaining the allies we’ve still got.

 

Meanwhile, although I agree with Mike Luckovich that young people ought to register to vote in this moment of unclear future, I’m in favor of getting them to the polls under any circumstances.

However, this reminded me of working a booth for a week at the Washington County Fair about the time of the second Iraq invasion. We were next to the Army with its display of cammo vehicles and recruiters in uniform, and across from a VISA credit card booth which was giving out American flag beach towels to anyone who signed up for a card.

We got to sit there and watch young people line up for the beach towels, then walk around and past the Army booth as if it were flying a plague flag.

You’re allowed to both register to vote and sign up to serve, but I suspect we’ve got an awful lot of people who are just here for the beach towels and I’d just as soon they didn’t vote or serve.

 

In more crucial matters

 

Luckovich also offers this comment on the decision of Mr. and Mrs. Windsor to buy a split-level in Peoria and join the local PTA.

Now, I don’t care about the Windsors any more than I do the Kardashians, except that I see this as a blending of Harry’s childhood memories of what fame and (unearned) fortune did for his mother, with Meghan’s growing horror over what it really means to be living in that odd, anachronistic limelight, like pandas at the National Zoo.

Which means that, if they knocked on my door at midnight seeking shelter, I’d pull out the couch.

Though, on the other hand, given that he was born to the purple and she worked her way up to the level where she got to meet him in the first place, I suspect they aren’t really headed for that split-level.

They have declared their intentions to become financially independent of Buckingham Palace, but I imagine they stuffed a few things in their pockets before they went over the back wall without bidding Her Nibs good-bye, and I kind of doubt we’ll see Harry running a debit route, collecting insurance payments on his Saturdays.

 

Though Matt Prichett holds out hope for a bit of normalcy.

Don’t let that girl slip away in Salinas, Harry.